Chapter 17

The last chapter gave me so much trouble, but this one came pretty easily.

If you read chapter 16 before it said it was revised, you may want to take a look at it. I changed how Peter and Octavius acted a little bit, and that's the way I tried to keep their dynamic during this chapter. Somehow, not letting them be too much of one or the other character ended up being the most difficult thing I've ever written.

Also, I just realized this is officially novel length now. This is the longest story I've ever written.

Thank you for all the reviews!

The sound of the wind rushing past Their ears was quite delightful. It drowned out the sound of the young heroes arguing around Them. And swinging between the buildings and leaping across the roofs was liberating. It reminded Them of running to things, but also from things. But altogether the memories mostly ended in success and invigoration.

Yet They still chose to ride two of Stark's drones after a short while. One of Their bodies became out of breath much sooner than the other, and it didn't make sense to use up Their energy before They even arrived at Their destination.

Vulture shot Them a dirty look as he flew by. He was probably just jealous because most of the drones were busy keeping the Hulk in the air.

If any of the people below hadn't been busy running from the symbiotes, the sight of their group flying by on red and gold Stark tech drones would have probably been a sight to behold.

They would admit They were not very proud of Their mode of travel, but it was Their only choice.

At last, Their destination came into view. That did not refer to the Empire State Building, which had been in Their sights since the start of Their short journey. Instead, They directed the drones to land onto a nearby building, one close enough to the landmark so They might be able to see what Goblin was doing. Then They would put the finishing touches on Their plan.

The drones lowered everyone down. White Tiger leaped gracefully onto the roof. Vulture alighted lightly. Iron Fist and Power Man dropped and rolled. Hulk squirmed out of the drones' grip to slam onto the roof, cracking it. They rolled Their eyes at his impatience as They jumped off Their robotic escorts.

"Will you need these guys to take you any further?" Stark's voice asked from one of the drones. He directed the question to White Tiger, mostly. He wouldn't address Them directly.

"A little extra firepower would be nice. Can you spare them a bit longer longer?"

"Yeah, honestly, I doubt a dozen more drones will do much for us over her—" There was an explosion on Stark's end, and he let out a string of curses and a somewhat high-pitched scream. "Ahem, well, sorry you kids had to hear that. Would you guys mind hurrying up just a teensy bit?"

"We're going. Thanks again, Stark."

"No problemo."

Although most of Shield was busy fighting symbiotes, they were not fighting anywhere near the Empire State Building. They were struggling against a small army of symbiotic Hydra agents that had been sent to attack the Helicarrier and a few other key locations such as government offices in the city. So Their little group wouldn't be able to rely on any heroic backup.

This felt fairly typical for Them.

White Tiger looked at Them, hesitating slightly. "Okay, so is there a specific plan aside from us being the distraction while you two head up to the top of the tower?"

"You know it depends on what Hydra is up to," Their red mouth said.

"We will move only after We have analyzed the situation," Their other mouth finished.

The group eyed Them for a second.

"That is . . . fair," Iron Fist said.

Staying low, they all went over to the edge of the roof. Hulk tried to follow, but They snapped at him to stay back. His large bulk would only give them away. The Hulk looked abashed at Their outburst, which was unusual behavior for someone who was almost brainless. A part of Them wanted to talk to the Hulk, to understand him better, but They returned Their attention to the scene below Them.

The Goblin was standing at the head of a flat, floating ship, covered in the dark green of the symbiote They had made for him. From this distance, They could make out designs of lighter green on his new skin. Yet They had left his symbiote mostly unfinished. Someone must have completed it for him.

On the ship with him was a group of Hydra agents, also covered in symbiotes, but these were the inky black and rich red of the 'soldier' symbiotes. A mix of Venom and Carnage had been the easiest to mass produce. It had also made it simple to hide Their two perfect symbiotes among those of the same colors.

There were also some droids on the ship. They had been afraid of that. Once They got rid of all the symbiotes, everyone who had been bonded to one would be temporarily dazed, unable to fight. That would have been no problem if all enemies were dazed as well. But since Hydra had had the foresight to send some droids along as well, They would need to make sure They were protected when They activated the signal. Perhaps it was a good thing these young heroes insisted They have a 'chaperone'.

Below the ship, the streets were alive with streams of red and black. Thousands of civilians covered in symbiotes lined the streets and sidewalks. They stood on cars and on awnings. Some were climbing lampposts, buildings, and even each other. And they all shrieked excitedly. Though their symbiotes included Venom, They hadn't been able to put much time or effort into them, and so the crowds were in a rambunctious state more akin to Carnage. Hydra had not minded this at all.

On the plus side, however, no one appeared to be on the Empire State Building. And Norman was busy giving his new army a completely useless pep talk. There was no need for such things when mind control was already involved.

"Do you know," the Goblin yelled above the roars and shrieks of his crowd. "That I have dreamed of this moment for nearly a year now? Yes, from the moment I saw the symbiotes at work, I knew they had massive potential. Because if one symbiote could stop superheroes in their tracks, then imagine what an army of symbiotes could do! Regardless of who you were before this, you all have limitless potential now, and I plan to use it!"

The crowd shrieked no louder than it had before.

"This is such a beautiful sight," Goblin continued. "This is such a beautiful feeling, to feel so powerful!" He flexed his arms, extending green tendrils from his body. "I think I might cry!"

They rolled Their eyes at Norman's theatrics.

"Do you think we can sneak past them?" Luke asked quietly.

"No," They replied without hesitation. "Even though Norman is entertained, these symbiotes are actively looking up. They will alert him the moment we approach the building."

"We'll split up, then," White Tiger said. "Now the question is who will be on the distraction team?"

"My fire has proven effective against symbiotes," Iron Fist reminded her.

"I'll keep an eye on Octavius," Vulture volunteered.

White Tiger considered him silently for a minute. "I understand your distrust," she said. "But you will need to let them do their part. You can't stall them or attack them before they're done."

Vulture almost seemed ready to argue with those terms, but thought better of it. "Fine. But I will stop him if he tries anything fishy."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

They frowned at her tiredly. "We've already gone over this."

"Yeah, we have, and we established that you're not the most trustworthy guy around," Vulture shot back.

"Yet We are the only chance you have of success."

Vulture's fists clenched and his eyes flashed, but Power Man placed a firm hand on his shoulder, whispering, "Don't. Just go with it for a little bit longer." At least some people here had some sense, They thought approvingly.

"Okay, so Iron Fist, Hulk, Power Man, and I will go first to distract them," White Tiger said. "We should focus on letting Iron Fist getting the most hits in on the Goblin, since fire and symbiotes don't mix well. And Vulture will go to the top with Spider-Man and Octavius. If you guys need help at any point, we should probably be able to use Hulk to throw one of us up to you."

It took Them a second to realize she was referring to Them with those two names. "That's not much more of a plan than we had when we left Our lab," They pointed out.

"No," she admitted. "But there's nothing else to say. Goblin may have his entire army attack us, or he may choose to fight us himself, using our attack as a 'test run' for his new suit. He's too unpredictable." She gave Their red self a hard look as she added, "Sometimes it's necessary to wing it."

Although They didn't understand why she was emphasizing that, They couldn't argue with her logic.

"How long will it take you to ascend the tower and activate your device?" Iron Fist asked.

"It may take about ten minutes to calibrate it, but so long as you do your part well, We will be able to reach the top within minutes."

"Right, that's good," White Tiger said monotonously. "Am I missing anything?"

Power Man raised a hand, pointing to Vulture. "Did Shield give you a communicator? Then we can give you a heads up if Goblin notices you're there."

Vulture held up his wrist, where a watch-like device briefly flashed into view. "Shield wouldn't give me one, but Spidey did."

Everyone glanced briefly at Their red self. Why did they always do that?

"All right, then. Hey, big guy!" White Tiger stood, addressing Hulk. "Ready for some smashing?"

"Yeah!" Hulk clapped happily. "HULK SMASH!" And with that, he got as much of a running start as he could on the small roof before leaping down onto the Goblin's ship. White Tiger stared after him.

"I was going to do it to the count of three, but that works too." She told the drones to tail them, and she, Iron Fist, and Power Man followed the Hulk down.

Vulture glared at Them with full force again now that they were alone. "You first. I'm not taking my eyes off of you for a second."

They didn't even bother to respond as They hopped over the edge of the roof and swung away.

They made sure to give the ship a wide berth, swooping around to the other side of the building. The crowds of symbiote below were hardly any thinner here. But with any luck, Norman would call them to his side soon. Or else they might wander over to watch the battle. It all depended on how skilled the Goblin was at multitasking. However, if their bond was anything like Theirs, then that . . . that could pose an even larger threat.

There was nothing They could do about it now except to focus on climbing as fast as They could.

It was a shame there weren't many outcroppings on the Empire State Building, or else They would have been able to slingshot Themselves up. Doing so on such a linear surface would put them at risk of crashing. As it was, They mostly climbed on Their hands and feet. Swinging all the way up would only be marginally faster, but much more noticeable from below.

Vulture kept flapping around Them like an angry hummingbird. It was quite annoying. They were just about to ask if he could fly a little less loudly when he came to hover in front of Them.

"Spider-Man!" he said, slightly panicked. "There are symbiotes inside the building!"

Curious, They peeked into the glass. Sure enough, there were some symbiotes stalking around inside, destroying whatever office furniture was in their path. One of them looked out the window, its muffled shriek still audible through the thick glass.

Continuing upward, They yelled at Vulture, "You shouldn't have stopped Us! Now they've seen Us!"

"Wait!" Vulture fluttered after Them. "I didn't stop you for the symbiotes! There are still people in there! They're hurt, and the symbiotes have claws, and I don't know if Goblin is recruiting anymore . . ."

Something twisted anxiously in Them. Those people needed help. But They were already helping. Temporarily saving a handful of people was nothing compared to saving the city. They knew that. And if They could do everything fast enough, those people might be saved anyway. Yet that was a chance, one of low probability at that. They had the power to help, so They were responsible. But wasn't it more responsible to do the right thing? But . . . what was the right thing? They clutched Their heads. Something wasn't right . . . it hurt . . . but wait, that was that sense, the spider sense!

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Vulture asked. "Power Man just called. Goblin is heading our way! We need to—" he stopped speaking abruptly as he stared over Their heads. Then he dove away. Their spider sense was ringing louder than ever. They jumped out of the way of the oncoming attack. They did the right thing. But the same decision was different for Them.

They split up.

And They split.

Peter found himself crashing into a skyscraper window with no recollection of how he had gotten himself into such a scenario.

This was not a terribly unusual occurrence, but his mind felt strange. He felt as if he had just been in the middle of a fascinating conversation, then thrown into a brick wall (or a window in this case), and promptly forgot what the conversation had been about, or who he had even had it with. Memories were nagging at the back of his mind though. He tried to uncover them as he got to his feet, cautiously avoiding the largest glass shards.

Looking up, he saw symbiotes around him. Some were on the ground, covered in glass. Others were peeking out from behind ripped cubicles. Another few were hovering over a small group of injured people.

This wasn't good. Why were there so many symbiotes? Why did that remind him of something? Hadn't he tried to stop someone from making a bunch of symbiotes? Hadn't he been the one who made them?

Peter tensed, ready for battle, but the symbiotes stayed back. They remained focused on him though. The cowering people took the opportunity to crawl away into hiding.

Now this was really weird, not that he minded much. He was always happy to catch a break whenever he could. Peter took the opportunity to pick the glass shards out of his suit, but his suit was already pushing them out. Well that was cool—

He craned his neck to look down at his suit. It was red. It was all red. There wasn't even a spider symbol on the chest. And it was smooth, much too smooth for any fabric, not even the ones Shield had access to. Heart leaping up to his throat, Peter began to pick his way towards the largest piece of shattered glass to examine his reflection. But his spider sense stopped him. He leaped back just in time to avoid being squished by Norman.

(Peter dully noted that he usually didn't use Norman's real name for the Goblin)

Norman—the Goblin—was darker than usual, with lime green lines forming aesthetically sinister patterns. His mouth, when it opened, was way bigger than usual. Symbiotes. Symbiotes were everywhere, even on Peter himself! But why? And why was he still in control of himself? Now that he was aware of it, Peter could feel his symbiote as only a gentle hum in the back of his mind. It was nothing like the overpowering will of Venom or Carnage.

"Ah! Spider-Man! Here at last!" Goblin exclaimed happily. It was a wonder he could speak through all those teeth. "I was beginning to worry that Octavius would horde you to himself!"

In a heartbeat, the memories came rushing back to Peter. All of the memories. The Hydra base. The infiltration. The battle. The symbiotes. The kidnapping. The bunker. The lessons. The history. The kinship.

Peter stood his ground silently. Why wasn't he freaking out right now? This was awful! It was what he had been afraid of! But maybe it was just overshadowed by the murderous psychopath standing in front of him. That made sense. Too much sense. He was rationalizing, not being rational.

Since when did he care so much about being rational?

Okay, now he was feeling a bit nauseous.

"What's the matter?" Norm—Goblin asked disappointedly. "Octopus still got your tongue? I was hoping to hear you beg for mercy as I tear you apart limb by limb."

"Aw, you missed the sound of my voice, Gobby?" Peter asked, relishing the first joke he had said in . . . in . . . He really wasn't sure how much time had passed. He remembered everything, but he had been stuck in an underground hideout most of the time. And Octavius had taught him nearly nonstop. Then the memories got a little blurry, but only because of . . . age . . . they were from a different time . . .

Peter's throat tightened slightly. He wasn't going to think about that right now. If he did, he was going to finally break down.

"There's the Spider-Man I know! Today truly is a glorious day! I get to take over the city and kill you!"

"Whoa! Slow down there! Um—" It took a bit of effort to come up with a comeback. "—Don't you want to savor your happiness? Why not take over the city today, and once you're bored of that you can kill me next week? Next month? Next year? My schedule is pretty tight."

Instead of responding verbally, Goblin punched him. This wouldn't have been possible normally considering that there was at least fifteen feet between them. Now, with the symbiote, the arm stretched that distance easily. Peter only dodged in time because of his spider sense.

Peter wished he had some help right now. His brain still felt a little bit jumbled, and the Goblin was no walk in the park even on a good day. He knew his team was around, but he had no way of knowing if they were okay at the moment. Would he even be able to access his communicator while wearing this symbiote? Just being able to talk to any of them right now would be nice.

Peter, are you alright?

The voice in his head startled Peter enough that Norman's next fist caught him dead on. The large hand then grabbed him roughly around the waist, talons digging into his skin. Peter cried out. A moment later, Norman yelled in pain too, and Peter was dropped to the floor. He ran away from the Goblin, clutching his bleeding sides. The symbiote creeped over the wounds.

I'm fine, no thanks to you, Peter thought at Octavius furiously. Get out of my head before you make me slip up again!

We are connected via the symbiotes, Octavius reminded him. But I will try to keep my mental distance. I will send help.

Peter debated denying his help, but decided against it. There was no way he could handle the Goblin alone like this.

"Octavius taught you some of his tricks, I see," Goblin muttered, massaging his jaw. Peter wondered what he was talking about until he noticed the red tendrils whipping behind him. He hastily pulled them back into the symbiote.

It was strange to feel so familiar with the symbiote's abilities. This knowledge wasn't entirely from Octavius's lessons though. Peter had plenty of his own encounters with symbiotes. However, this was the first time he wasn't fighting one. Or rather, this was the first time he wasn't fighting the one he was bonded to. He would be fighting plenty of symbiotes today.

"Hold him down!" Goblin demanded.

All the symbiotes that Peter had temporarily forgotten about came at him. Without his full consent, the four tendrils popped out of his back again, but even that extra edge didn't do him much good against roughly eight symbiotes. He lost count as they weaved around him.

"Leave him alone!"

To Peter's relief, Vulture flew in then with White Tiger hanging onto his legs. They landed nearby, but some of the symbiotes rushed at them. Peter fought to join them, but the symbiotes were succeeding in holding him down now. He struggled as they piled on top of him.

Norman's thudding footsteps came toward Peter. "We have an audience now. How fun!" His large face was just visible between the writhing symbiote bodies. "Spider-Man, can you believe that, despite Venom's name, the symbiote did not actually have venom?"

"Never really thought about that, to be honest," Peter said as well as he could. The symbiotes were all over him, and one nearly stuck its foot in his mouth.

"I hadn't either. But Café did. She really is quite industrious, isn't she?"

Peter was really starting to dislike this Café lady. She was part of the reason Octavius had been able to kidnap him. Again.

The weight of the symbiotes disappeared suddenly, but then they held down his arms and legs. Now the Goblin was in full sight, his large grin gleaming with too many teeth.

"Wait a minute," Peter said. "You're talking venom, as in like, biting me venom?"

"I have other ways to inject it into you." Goblin held out a claw and his nails grew sharper like gigantic needles. "I am no barbarian, after all. I still have my standards."

"You have standards?!"

Goblin's grin grew. "Ever heard of boomslang? It's a type of snake. Looks quite cute. Big eyes, kind of looks like it's smiling. Its venom is an extremely strong blood thinner. If you didn't have such a powerful metabolism, you would likely bleed from every orifice. As you are, you can say bye-bye to healing."

"NO!" Ava yelled ferociously, but she remained out of sight.

The Goblin poised his claw ready for the strike. Peter's spider sense rang wildly in his head. Tapping into his symbiote's strength as well as his own, he managed to pull one of his arms out from the other symbiotes' grasp. As Norman swung his arm down, Peter swung his arm up so it took the brunt of the attack. It still hurt tremendously though. He couldn't help but cry out again.

Now Ava and Adrian came into sight. They both slammed into the Goblin, sending him crashing through a nearby plaster wall. They then pulled Peter out of the pile of symbiotes and ran.

"How bad is it?" Ava asked as they practically dragged him across the room.

Peter looked down at his mangled arm. The blood blended in with the red of his symbiote. There was a bit of red and black web pattern from his actual suit (he was still wearing that underneath, which was good; he wouldn't be left naked when they got rid of the symbiotes). The glistening pink was probably muscle. And he glimpsed a bit of white before his symbiote began to try to cover the worst parts. "It's not that bad."

She looked back at him. This time she whispered, "Is that really you?"

Was it really him? He honestly wasn't sure at this point. But this was not the time to get into technicalities. "Yeah, I'm . . . I'm back."

They came to a halt and she turned to hug him. Peter hugged her back as best as he could while trying not to get blood all over her. His symbiote was trying to weave his skin back together, but Goblin was right, he was bleeding profusely. It had to let the blood out at least a little, or else he would swell like a balloon. His symbiote did its best to speed up his healing process and apply pressure, but without clotting he was going to pass out soon. They had to do this quickly now.

"You are so not okay," Ava said as she let him go. "Vulture will fly you to safety. The guys are on their way to help me keep Goblin busy. Do you still know how to use the transmitter? I know you have it, but—"

Peter shook his head. "Octavius has it, actually. We—he lied to you just in case you were compromised by Goblin's symbiotes. Not to mention I'm the one Goblin was most likely to go after."

"That's just like Doc Ock," Adrian muttered. "Of course he would want the glory."

Peter opened his mouth to argue that it was common sense, not a needless risk for fame, but held his tongue.

"Let Octavius handle it," Ava said ever so slightly pleadingly. "You're in no state to continue this."

Under normal circumstances, Peter would have ignored her and gone to help anyway. But these were far from normal circumstances. He had to admit that he was hurt pretty badly. And he felt tainted by Octavius's thoughts and memories. For once, he felt the ragged fear that such a situation warranted. He didn't feel brave like Spider-Man right now. He didn't feel like a hero at all.

(He hardly felt like Peter Parker.)

It occurred to Peter that such overly cautious thoughts sounded like Octavius's. The man was far from brave. It sickened him, but—

Don't shy away from the correct conclusion just because it upsets you, Octavius's voice was so clear in his head. Since you are safe for now, I am already on my way up. Just focus on staying alive.

"Are you okay?"

Peter looked back at Adrian, realizing he had visibly flinched from Octavius's chastising. "I'm fine. It just stings a little."

"That's the Spider-Man I know," Ava said exasperatedly. "Just please try to stay alive."

She had no idea how her desires aligned with Octavius's right now. But even hearing it from her, the idea of running and hiding didn't feel right. Yet as blood dripped slowly off of his fingertips, Peter couldn't come up with a single reason not to listen to them. A loud roar behind them only continued to prove their point.

"All right. Let's go. But you need to stay safe too, White Tiger."

Her smirk was practically audible in her voice. "Look who's talking. I promise I'll keep it to evasion tactics as much as I can, though."

With that, she ran back the way they had come. Adrian flapped up and grabbed Peter, pulling him into the air. Peter tried to ignore the sounds of battle behind them. A war cry that sounded like it could be from a Kung Fu movie alerted him that Danny was on the scene now. Peter hoped Luke was there too, or that he was safe somewhere. He wondered where Hulk was. Surely he would have known if the Hulk had entered the building; the green brute would have crashed in as loudly as the Goblin.

Vulture flew them up a stairwell. Echoes from below sounded like an army was rushing up. The symbiote army. Goblin had probably called them. They made the bottom of the stairwell look like a sea of shadows and blood. Peter's blood continued to drip, falling all the way down the long shaft. Seconds later, when it finally hit the symbiotes, they shrieked gleefully, murderously.

If Peter didn't already know the overwhelming power of symbiotes, he would have been surprised to remember those were probably all civilians.

"I can't believe we're all depending on Octavius now," Adrian said as he swerved onto a random floor. This one was completely empty of symbiotes, thankfully. Although the muffled sounds of people crying and hyperventilating stemmed from a few closets they passed.

"Yeah, who would've thought," Peter muttered dolefully.

"I'm glad you're not under his control anymore." Adrian let Peter go in a secluded room. Judging from how intact it was, the symbiotes hadn't been here at all yet. "That was creepy."

Peter shrank in on himself. Octavius hadn't exactly been in control the past few hours. Peter couldn't say he was completely lucid then, but he hadn't been unconscious either. "I'm sorry you had to see that." He paused, hesitant. "How long was I . . . was he in control?"

Adrian hesitated too, which already had Peter's stomach twisting. "A few days."

"Days?!"

"About five, I think."

"Five days?!"

"But you're back now and Doc Ock failed!" Adrian continued reassuringly. "No matter what, you're nothing like Doctor Octopus!"

Peter ran his good hand roughly down his face. The fact that he had been stuck with Octavius for days on end seemed to make a hollow in his mind where the words echoed horribly. No wonder he didn't feel quite like himself. Had Octavius succeeded in changing him? How much of Peter Parker was left in him?

He let out a single mirthless laugh. "Yeah, nothing. We only share our entire genome, save my spider additions."

Adrian's bird features melted away until he was human again. He gawked at Peter. "What do you mean your entire genome?!"

Peter blinked at him. "I mean—the clone thing—The team didn't tell you?"

"What clone thing are you talking about?" Adrian's voice hardened considerably.

"Oh, well, it's—it's a funny story . . ." Peter's mouth went dry, and he couldn't help but back up a few steps as Adrian advanced on him.